


Something Blue

by ozuttly



Category: Kamen Rider Ex-Aid, Kamen Rider Kabuto
Genre: Closeted Character, Established Relationship, M/M, Secret Relationship, Weddings, but not overtly really, mild homophobia, this is much more ex-aid focused than kabuto focused
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-28
Updated: 2019-07-04
Packaged: 2020-03-20 18:43:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18998335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ozuttly/pseuds/ozuttly
Summary: In which Hiiro is invited to his cousin Arata's wedding, and he's expected to bring a date.





	1. Chapter 1

Hiiro is staring at the letter in front of him like it said something particularly nasty about his mother. 

Kiriya is a bit curious, he can’t deny. He can’t see what the letter says from his position on the couch, but he can tell that it’s on some kind of fancy stationary, with the remnants of a wax seal on the envelope. When he really squints, he thinks he can make out the words ‘you’re cordially invited’ in some kind of fancy script. 

It might be one of those fancy hospital fundraiser balls, and Kiriya knows how much Hiiro hates those, but somehow he gets the feeling that it’s a bit different. Maybe over the past year of dating he’s gotten used to Hiiro’s tells. 

“Something up?” He asks, and Hiiro startles a little, looking up at him like he’d forgotten he was in the room. For a moment his face smooths out, the tension starting to drain before he chances a glance at the letter on the table and his scowl returns full force. 

“It’s nothing important,” he says quickly, and Kiriya hums. He knows that if Hiiro wants to talk about it, he will, and if he doesn’t, he won’t. He’s here to listen either way, and after a few good moments Hiiro lets out a sigh of defeat. “I was invited to my cousin’s wedding.”

Kiriya tilts his head to the side, because he doesn’t know what’s so horrible about that. He knows Hiiro isn’t super fond of fancy parties where he has to socialize with others, but surely he could make an exception for family. 

“Are you two close?” Kiriya asks, curiosity piqued, and Hiiro replies with a noncommittal hum. 

“Not particularly... Arata and his partner are not very well liked by my father’s side of the family,” he explains slowly, like he’s not entirely sure how much he should be divulging. Kiriya just leans back and nods, showing that he’s there to listen but not pushing where he’s not wanted. Hiiro hesitates for a second before he takes a deep breath. “I’m not sure how much of that is because of his partner’s personality or the fact that he’s a man.”

Oh, so it was one of those things. Kiriya had heard from Hiiro about his father’s side of the family and just how they viewed gay folks. It’s a big part of why Hiiro is still in the closet with everyone except Kiriya and Emu, and why they keep their relationship a secret. Kiriya hadn’t known that he had another gay cousin, though he supposed that everyone had at least one of those. 

“So? What do you want to do?” He asks, and Hiiro’s face goes sour the way it does when he doesn’t have an immediate answer to a problem. Kiriya gives him time to think it over, relaxing on the couch until Hiiro finally speaks up. 

“I would like to go and support him, but...” He trails off, then looks back at the invitation. “But I would be expected to bring a date.” 

Oh. That also explains a lot. Hiiro rarely ever attends functions where he needs to bring a date, and when he does, he usually brings Poppy (as Asuna, of course). But bringing a beard along to a family member’s wedding feels insincere in a way that a hospital gala doesn’t, especially when said cousin is (apparently) also gay. 

Kiriya wants to suggest that they go together. He wants to, but he doesn’t dare, because that’s not his place. Hiiro is the one with a high profile career, the one with the homophobic family, the one whose father might disown him if he finds out he’s gay. Kiriya doesn’t have any of that, so he can’t be selfish, even if he thinks it would be really nice to spend one night on an actual proper date with his boyfriend where they don’t have to worry about anyone seeing them. 

“Where are they having the ceremony done?” He asks instead, to quell the feelings inside him. Hiiro seems to be too caught up in his own problems to notice if there’s any change in his voice. 

“Paris,” he says, and Kiriya does a double take. Hiiro gives him a wry look. “Apparently his partner lives there part time, and gay marriage is legally recognized there.” 

Kiriya hums, and Hiiro fiddles with the letter for a few minutes before he takes a deep breath and turns to his boyfriend. 

“Would you… I mean… If I did go, would you be willing to… I mean...” He stutters a little before he closes his eyes and takes another deep breath. “Would you be my date?” 

Kiriya grins, and he would have said yes had the door not opened at that point. 

“What’s this about dates?” Haima asks, and Hiiro immediately turns away. Kiriya wipes his smile off his face, and Hiiro fingers the invitation before sliding it into his pocket. 

“I was wondering if I’d need a date to go to Arata’s wedding,” he says, and an unreadable look crosses his father’s face. He looks serious for once, and not necessarily in a good way. 

“You’re going?” He asks, and Hiiro pauses for a second before he nods. Haima sighs, shaking his head. 

“You know, I still don’t know how a good boy like Arata ended up with that man,” he muses, and Hiiro flinches a little but tries not to let it show on his face. Kiriya wants to put a hand on his shoulder, but he knows that PDA would just make Hiiro even more uncomfortable, so he picks up a magazine off the coffee table by the couch and starts flipping through it absentmindedly. “I do think it’s good that you get on the dating scene again, though. You should ask Nakamura from the ER. She’s a nice girl, and she likes you.” 

Hiiro tries to keep his face impassive as he nods. His father heads over to the filing cabinet in the corner and finds what he was looking for. He holds it up in victory before he smiles at Hiiro and walks out. Hiiro immediately deflates in his absence. 

Kiriya does go to him, then, setting the magazine down and plopping down in the chair beside him so that he can wrap an encouraging arm around his shoulders. 

“Hey,” he says softly, gently running his fingers through Hiiro’s hair. Normally Hiiro doesn’t like when he does this where anyone can walk in, but today he leans into the touch, closing his eyes as he does. “I would love to go to Paris.” 

*** 

Officially, Kiriya is there as his friend. Hiiro had called Arata in advance to make sure that it was ok, because his friend truly wanted to see the city. Arata, of course, had been ok with it. His fiance, on the other hand, had given Hiiro an earful. 

“You would bring a friend to our matrimonial services as an excuse to see Paris?” He had said, distaste dripping from his voice while Arata wrestled ineffectually with him for the phone. “Grandmother said this; a wedding is a display of love, and only love shall be allowed in attendance--” 

“Enough, Souji! It’s fine, it’s totally fine!” Arata exclaims as he finally manages to get the phone back. “Honestly, Hiiro, I’m surprised you’re even coming, since we haven’t seen each other since…” He trails off, and Hiiro knows what he’s talking about. Since he came out to his family and his father disowned him. Hiiro huffs a little, because while he and Arata are not particularly close, they are still family. 

“You sent an invitation, so it would be rude not to show up,” he says. Arata goes quiet on the other end, while ‘Souji’ hums his agreement. 

“It is a good thing to have manners,” he says, though his voice is muffled in the background of the call, and Arata groans. 

“Stop eavesdropping! Go back to planning the wedding like you clearly want to,” Arata scolds, and there’s some more talking that Hiiro can’t make out before his cousin comes back to the phone. “Sorry about Souji, he’s just…” 

“The man who walks the path of heaven,” the other finishes, and Hiiro can practically hear Arata rolling his eyes. 

“He’s just like that,” he says, but his voice sounds incredibly fond. Hiiro bites the inside of his lip, because he wishes that his relationship could be as open and obvious as theirs was. 

“It’s alright. I’ll bring him, then. My… friend,” He says, and Arata has a smile in his voice when he agrees. 

*** 

Paris is a great deal different from Tokyo. Hiiro has been there before, once, for a medical conference about the international spread of the bugster virus, back when it was in full swing, but he’d never actually spent time to explore the city. He rarely acted like a tourist when he traveled for work, but now that Kiriya was here with him, he was relaxing a little bit, during the day that they had leading up to the wedding ceremony. 

They were at a cafe for the moment, going over their itinerary for the day. Hiiro had ordered a deluxe eclair of some sort, something super fancy, while Kiriya just got coffee and a muffin. The food was good (apparently this place was rather famous around here for its head chef, though his attitude left much to be desired) and the atmosphere was pleasant enough. 

Most importantly, though, was the fact that this was one of the first real, actual dates they’d ever gone on without disguising it as something that it wasn’t, and Hiiro’s heart was beating faster than normal. Kiriya was talking about all the places they should visit, like the Eiffel Tower, and Hiiro was trying very hard to pay attention, but it was extremely difficult with how his nerves seemed to be flaring up. It was like they’d just started dating again, when Hiiro had spent an entire evening fretting over whether or not Kiriya was going to kiss him, and how he should respond. He’d thought he was over these kinds of butterflies by now, but clearly he wasn’t. 

“You ok?” Kiriya asks him, and Hiiro finally looks up from his eclair to realize that he had been scowling down at it without meaning to. Hiiro nods his head, his cheeks pinkening a little bit. 

“I’m fine. It’s just… We never really get to be this open back home,” he says slowly. Of course they couldn’t be, with Hiiro being practically famous. Their friends and family didn’t know about them, outside of Emu, so they couldn’t really go on actual dates. But here in Paris, where nobody knows them, they can do things like hold hands in public, and it’s making Hiiro a little giddy and a lot scared. 

Kiriya must understand, because his expression is soft as he reaches over and takes Hiiro’s hand in his own. He’s never once complained about Hiiro’s request to keep things quiet between them, and Hiiro thinks he’s lucky to have found someone so endlessly understanding. 

“Listen, today is our day to do totally normal date things. Nobody knows us here, so we can be as loud and open as we want,” he says, then glances around conspiratorially before he grins and leans in, kissing Hiiro on the cheek. “I can even do that, if you’re ok with it.” 

Hiiro’s face is bright red, but he can’t help but smile as he nods his head and kisses his boyfriend back, briefly. 

*** 

They spend their date day well, visiting all of the local sites they can think to visit, and seeing everything they can think to see. More importantly than that, though, is the fact that they hold hands most of the time, and sometimes they even kiss in public when nobody’s watching. It’s exhilarating, and Hiiro has no idea how he’s going to give this up when they go home in a few days. 

Soon enough, though, they end up retiring to their hotel room. They had rented a double room to keep up appearances, but they end up retiring to the same bed, Hiiro curling up in Kiriya’s arms as they cuddle the night away. Hiiro is content in a way that he hasn’t been in a very long time, and he allows himself to actually relax in a way he rarely does. It’s freeing, and he hums softly into Kiriya’s neck before he kisses him. 

“Love you,” he mumbles quietly against his lips, and Kiriya just chuckles as he runs his fingers through his hair. 

“Yeah, I love you too,” he says back, and Hiiro melts happily.


	2. Chapter 2

The night of the wedding itself is somehow both more and less eventful than the day before. They spend a while getting ready, partially because Hiiro wants to make a good impression and partially because he’s incredibly distracted by how good Kiriya looks in a suit. He tries to keep it to himself, though, because he doesn’t want to be late for the ceremony. 

They aren’t late, thankfully, though they cut it close. Hiiro recognizes very few people here, but he isn’t surprised. He had suspected that most of the people showing up would be from Souji’s family rather than Arata’s. It’s still a little sad, though. 

The ceremony itself is western-styled, considering their location. Hiiro had talked to Arata about it, and it seemed to have been a point of contention between the two grooms for quite a while. Souji had wanted a traditional Japanese ceremony, while Arata wanted a western wedding with a procession down the aisle. It was the one thing he wouldn’t actually budge on, he had told Hiiro, and he instructed him to bring a suit. Which was all well and good, because Hiiro didn’t own any traditional clothing. 

Souji clearly did, though, as he was wearing the traditional Japanese wedding garb despite the western setting. Hiiro is a bit surprised to see him when he walks down the aisle, and Kiriya does a double take from his position beside him. The other guests hardly seem surprised, though, so Hiiro just accepts it as an eccentricity (apparently Souji had a lot of them) and let it be. 

The ceremony is ultimately rather touching, if uneventful. Hiiro notices that a woman a few years Arata’s junior walked him down the aisle in lieu of his father, but everything else is fairly traditional.

He feels good, though, as he watches his cousin kiss the love of his life after exchanging rings and vows. He is genuinely happy for him. 

Kiriya reaches over and squeezes his hand, a quiet and discreet gesture, but it makes Hiiro’s cheeks turn pink anyways. He squeezes back. 

Then the ceremony gave way to the reception, and things become far less formal. Arata runs around greeting guests while Souji converses with the young woman who had walked Arata down the aisle. She must be a relative, or something. Hiiro thinks it’s sweet that Souji’s family has already adopted Arata in every way but officially. 

He glances over at Kiriya, who has already decided to hit the bar for some champagne before dinner starts, and a soft smile comes to his face. It’s at that moment that Arata comes up to him with a somewhat awkward smile. 

“Hiiro!” He calls out, and Hiiro turns away from Kiriya to see his cousin. It’s the first time they’ve seen each other in around eight or nine years, but Arata looks the same as ever. Even before the Incident, as his father called it, he and Arata had never been particularly close due to their ten year age difference, but Hiiro recalls looking up to him as a child. He hadn’t had very many cousins, and Arata had babysat him a few times when he was a teenager. Of course, childlike adoration had only gone so far, and when his father cut off contact with him, Hiiro had done the same. 

He wonders how much of it was due to fear. 

Even now, Arata still looks surprised that he’s actually here. He gives him a one-armed hug, though, and Hiiro bows his head politely. 

“Congratulations on your marriage,” he says, and Arata’s cheeks turn a bit red as he scratches the side of his chin. 

“Yeah, well, it’s been a long time coming,” he says with a little chuckle, but there’s tension in his shoulders that doesn’t really seem to leave. “Uncle Haima didn’t come, huh?” 

Hiiro flinches a little, his mouth twisting before he shakes his head. Luckily it’s about that time when Kiriya flings an arm around his shoulders, holding out a glass of champagne for him. 

“Hey, Hiiro’s cousin. It’s Arata, right? Congrats,” Kiriya says, and Hiiro is happy for the interruption as he leans into Kiriya’s touch. It’s so natural by now that he doesn’t even realize he’s doing it. Arata looks a little bewildered, though, so Hiiro quickly clears his throat, and Kiriya straightens up a bit. 

“Arata, this is my friend, Kujou Kiriya,” Hiiro says, and Arata nods. He looks a little suspicious for a second, but then his husband is coming up behind him and eyeing the two with a look that is far too knowing for Hiiro’s taste. 

“So this is the cousin and his friend,” Souji says, and Hiiro nods his head in greeting. Kiriya raises the hand that isn’t holding his champagne glass in a little mock salute, before he realizes that might be a bit rude and politely bows his head in greeting instead. Souji watches the two of them while Arata looks nervously between them. 

“Grandmother said--,” Souji begins, but the woman from before luckily catches up with him and grabs him by the shoulder to distract him. 

“Souji, the kitchen is having a problem with the catering, could you…?” She trails off, and Souji immediately turns and walks away before continuing his sentence. Hiiro is a little bewildered, but Arata seems used to this. 

“He insisted on making all the food himself, even though we hired a catering service to help serve it,” Arata says, and Hiiro’s eyebrows rise a bit. He can’t imagine making all of the food for his own wedding, but then he’s never really been one to cook. 

“He a chef, then?” Kiriya asks curiously, and Arata rolls his eyes. 

“Souji is whatever he wants to be when he wakes up in the morning,” he says, which is a rather cryptic answer. “But yeah, he consults for a few restaurants, here and back home in Japan. Hiyori – that’s his sister – is the actual head chef at the bistro I used to work for. I think her cooking is the only thing he likes more than his own.” 

Hiiro notices the soft upward tilt of his lips as he looks back in the direction that Souji went, and he finds his heart clenching a bit. 

“You seem very happy together,” he says softly, and Kiriya reaches to put a hand on his shoulder before he aborts the action into a cough instead. Arata either doesn’t notice or doesn’t say anything, and they break into a conversation about their respective professions for a bit before Hiyori calls Arata away. Once he’s free, Hiiro retreats to the bathroom, where he splashes cold water on his face and takes deep breaths until he can calm down. 

This is harder than he’d thought it would be. He doesn’t even recognize most of the people here, but the open and freeing atmosphere of the date from the day before is gone. He’s back to pretending, and after a day of not having to, it’s even harder than ever.  
He takes a moment just to try and relax, and soon Kiriya enters in behind him, stretching like he’s done something far more exhausting than stand and talk to strangers for a few hours. 

“Man, now I know why you hate those hospital fundraisers,” he says as he heads over to the sink and wraps an arm around Hiiro’s shoulders. “You good?” 

They’re alone in the bathroom, so Hiiro doesn’t bother to shrug his arm off and instead leans into the touch. It’s reassuring, and he bites his lower lip.

He misses the day before. He misses being open, and going on dates, and he finds more than anything else that he’s jealous of Arata. He’s jealous of the fact that he can have a ceremony that shows how much he loves the man of his dreams and have people show up to celebrate them, and…

“I think,” Hiiro begins, then licks his lips because it feels like his mouth has gone dry. “That I want to get married.” 

Kiriya freezes and blinks, his hand tightening on Hiiro’s shoulder, and Hiiro realizes that he had blurted out the first thing on his mind rather than that he was fine, and they would go back to the ceremony in a minute. 

“I mean, I didn’t mean to say that,” he backtracks quickly, and Kiriya’s lips break into a little smile as he turns Hiiro around in his arms and pulls him into a proper hug. 

“Good. I hope you weren’t planning on proposing in the men’s washroom at someone else’s wedding,” he says with a chuckle. He doesn’t seem nearly as nervous or fidgety as Hiiro feels, after dropping a bomb like that, but his unflappability is grounding. “So I’m not going to give you an answer, since I don’t think you’ve thought about it that much.”

It’s fair enough, and Hiiro nods his head. He hasn’t thought about it that much, an it’s a very big decision. It’s not even legal back home in Japan anyways, though he knows that there are ways around the law. They could do it, theoretically. God, now Hiiro’s thinking about it, about how nice it would be to move in with Kiriya and have their friends attend their ceremony. Have Emu as best man for both of them. 

He shakes his head to clear it, and Kiriya is smiling fondly at him in a way that makes Hiiro want to kiss him. So he does. He half expects somebody to dramatically walk in, seeing as they are in public, but nobody does, and the moment is over. Kiriya hugs him close, kisses his cheek and then shoves his thumbs into his beltloops. 

“Ok, as nice as that was, I really do need to pee,” he says, and Hiiro rolls his eyes. 

“I’ll meet you outside, then,” he says, and Kiriya places one hand over his heart as though he’s offended. 

“If I didn’t know better, Hiiro, I’d think that you didn’t want to see my dick,” he teases, and Hiiro’s face turns red as he glares at him, but there’s no heat in it. 

“It’s nothing special anyways,” he says back, deadpan, and Kiriya squawks in indignation as Hiiro steps back outside.   
Dinner will be starting soon, which is good because Hiiro is hungry, but also… 

He sees Arata next to Souji, and before he can think of it he’s walking over.

They’re having some kind of conversation and he’s sure he’s interrupting them as he steps up, looking to Arata who looks back at him, clearly a bit confused. 

“Hiiro?” he asks, and Hiiro takes a deep breath and clenches his fists. 

“Do you ever regret coming out?” He asks before he loses his nerve, an Arata looks a little bit bewildered, while Souji makes a small ‘hm’ noise in the back of his throat. 

“I’ll leave you alone,” he says as he steps away. Arata kisses him on the cheek before he goes, and Souji looks utterly scandalized by the public display, as though this wasn’t an entire event dedicated to   
showing off their love. 

Arata turns back to Hiiro then, a thoughtful look on his face as he considers the question. 

“Well, a little bit, I guess,” he says with a shrug as the two of them sit down. “I miss talking to my dad, but we weren’t really that close even before. But mostly? No. If they couldn’t accept me, then I don’t need that kind of family. I have a new family that I chose, and they care about me no matter who I love, you know? They’re the ones who are important. Why do you ask, anyways?” 

Hiiro stiffens, and considers lying. He considers keeping everything a secret, the way he always has, but then he decides that he hates keeping it secret and he hates lying to people who care about him. 

“I’m gay,” he says with more confidence than he feels. He fists his hands into the edges of his suit coat, taking a deep breath as he stares down at his knees. “I’m gay and I love my boyfriend more than anyone else, and I think that maybe, one day, I even want to marry him. I think I want to tell my father, and I’m terrified that he’ll abandon me, but more than that I’m scared of one day losing this relationship because of all the secrets.”

He says it all in one breath, and Arata looks shocked. Soon, though, his face changes to one of understanding, and he reaches over and squeezes Hiiro’s shoulder in the brotherly way he used to do when Hiiro was an upset child. 

“I can’t tell you what to do, Hiiro,” he says, a very small smile on his face. “But thanks for telling me. You should probably tell him, too,” he adds as he nods towards Kiriya, who is standing behind them. 

Hiiro’s face turns red, but before he can say anything Kiriya grabs him by the arm and pulls him up into a hug. 

“Is this ok?” he asks quietly, and Hiiro can’t help it. He nods his head, leans in and kisses him in front of everyone. He used to think that such a public display of affection would be mortifying, but instead it’s incredibly freeing. Hiiro thinks that Souji is going to be furious with them for stealing the show at his wedding, but he can’t help it. 

“I love you,” Hiiro says, and it feels so good to say it somewhere other than in a quiet private room. Kiriya smiles against his mouth and grins before he abruptly spins him around and dips him, laughing out loud. 

“This is my boyfriend!” He yells out to the audience, and Hiiro is horribly embarrassed by the cheers that they get in return, but he also feels absolutely giddy, and he can’t stop it. 

*** 

They decide to both sit down with Haima when they get back. 

Kiriya is the best support that Hiiro could hope for, and he finds himself reaching for his hand to squeeze when he says the two fatal words to his father for the first time. 

Haima blinks, a little surprised, before he hums and nods his head. 

“Now it makes sense why you didn’t want to date anybody,” he says thoughtfully. “And here I thought you just didn’t like any of the girls I suggested to you.” 

Hiiro’s face turns bright red, and Kiriya grins at him. 

“You’re not… angry?” Hiiro asks quietly, and Haima actually looks surprised by the question. 

“Of course not, no. I didn’t exactly expect it, but you’re my son, of course I wouldn’t be angry.” 

Hiiro takes a deep breath and Kiriya moves their linked hands up above the table. Haima blinks and looks between the two of them, then makes a soft ‘oh’ sound. Then he gets up and walks around, kneeling by Hiiro’s chair so he can pull him into a tight hug. 

“Oh, Hiiro. How long have you been worrying about this?” He asks quietly, sounding almost ashamed, and Hiiro can do little but hug him back without crying. Kiriya squeezes his shoulder reassuringly, and Hiiro is horribly grateful.

**Author's Note:**

> I am still working on my other fic, but this idea wouldn't leave me alone, even though it's con season and I've been super busy. x.x Don't expect many updates on this fic or Eye Contact until after June 10th tho, just a warning.


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